Month: April 2017

Giants win on Opening Day, get good news on Posey’s scary head injury

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By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–The 18th Opening Day along the shores of McCovey Cove had an ominous start and a satisfying conclusion, with a comical moment in between that stood as the pivotal play in the Giants’ 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks.

Just another example of the home team trying to make up for those anxious days when the park by San Francisco Bay opened in 2000 and Giants’ fans suffered through several, disappointng losses to the Dodgers.  This time, fans of the orange and black were treated to all the pomp and circumstance with a giant U.S. flag ceremony, the national anthem sung by the cast of the Broadway hit “Hamilton,” and a standing ovation for Barry Bonds, the franchise’s hero come home. Following that, the Giants thrilled the fans with their 14th win in a home opener at AT&T Park.

The ominous moment was a Tijuan Walker pitch that plunked Buster Posey in the first inning, and ended his afternoon on the field, as manager Bruce Bochy elected to lift his star player as a precautionary move.  Backup Nick Hundley came on to team with Matt Moore, who was in control, pitching eight innings, allowing just one run, to pick up the win.

“Were he not the catcher, he might have stayed in the game,” Bochy said of the incident in which Posey was alert, but wide-eyed, throughout.  Posey did leave the field under his own power after a thorough look over by trainer Ron Groeschner. Posey was scheduled to be evaluated soon after the conclusion of the game, but the team announced, that they don’t expect the All-Star catcher to return to the field for Tuesday’s game.

“It’s one of the worst sounds you can hear in baseball, the ball hitting the helmet,” Bochy said.  “It’s a scary moment.  There’s been a lot of damage to hitters hit in the head.”

Moore said afterwards that he retreated to the clubhouse a couple of times to check on Posey, saying that he felt his catcher was doing fine.  Other than that, Moore did his best to reduce all his teammates’ anxiety by taming the D’Backs, allowing just the one run on Yasmani Tomas’ solo shot in the fifth.

 

Golden State Warriors Monday game wrap: Utah Gets One Over On Golden State–105-99 ends 14 game win streak

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George Hill scores 20 points as the Utah Jazz beat the Golden State Warriors 105-99 (AFP Photo/MATTHEW STOCKMAN)

By Barbara Mason

With only two games left in the regular season the Golden State Warriors took on the Utah Jazz at Oracle Arena in a Monday night contest. Klay Thompson sat out the game for some much needed rest while Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant handled Utah. Head Coach Steve Kerr expects everyone to play in their final season game Wednesday as a sort of post season tune-up.

Despite Curry shooting 21 points in the first half the Jazz continued to hang around. Despite a myriad of injuries the Jazz have managed to find a way into the play-offs as a 4th or 5th seed. (still to be determined) They have to win out and that means getting past the Warriors. Were it not for those injuries who knows how good they really could have been. The score at the half was 51-49 with the Warriors leading and shooting just over 50%. Trailing by as much as ten points in the half, Golden State was gearing up to dominate the second half.

The Warrior domination in the third quarter did not materialize. Utah hung tough throughout the quarter and after three quarters the game was dead even at 74. Through three nothing had been decided.

Mid-way through the final quarter Utah had a slim lead 88-84. The Jazz were executing beautifully trying to stay alive for home court in the playoffs. With 2:36 left in this high level game Golden State was still trailing 96-91. McAdoo came up with a three-pointer to narrow the Jazz lead to 96-94. The deeper reserves had all the pressure on them with 2:09 left in the game.

With 1:19 left the Jazz had all but put this game away 101-94. The final was 105-99 and Utah had upset Golden State and kept their home court advantage hopes alive. The game leaders were Steph Curry with 28 points while the Jazz’s George Hill had 20. This gave us just a glimpse of the high energy that we are all about to experience in the playoffs. It’s definitely going to be a good time out!!!

Jharel Cotton shines as the A’s shutout the Kansas City Royals 2-0

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Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Jharel Cotton delivers to a Kansas City Royals batter during the first inning of a baseball game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Monday, April 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

by Jerry Feitelberg

Kansas City- The Oakland A’s downed the Kansas City Royals 2-0 to spoil the Royals’ first game at home this season. A’s pitcher Jharel Cotton was dominant as he went seven innings and allowed just 2 hits. He walked three but struck out six as he evened his record at 1-1. Cotton came to the A’s in the trade that sent Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Los Angeles Dodgers last year. Cotton pitched well for the A’s but had a so-so outing against the LA Angels as he gave up five runs in just 4 and 1/3rd innings of work.

The A’s Khris Davis won the game for the A’s in the fourth inning. With one on and no out, Davis smoked his fourth homer of the young season to put the A’s up 2-0. A’s manager Bob Melvin brought in Santiago Casilla to pitch the eighth and Casilla struck out the side. Sean Doolittle closed out the game for Oakland. He allowed one hit but he, too, struck out the side to earn his first save. The A’s evened their record to 4-4 while KC dropped to 2-5.

The Royals Ian Kennedy pitched well but not well enough. Kennedy was charged with his second loss of the 2017 campaign.

The A’s and Royals are off on Tuesday and will resume play Wednesday night. The A’s Andrew Triggs with a record of 1-0 will pitch for the Green and Gold. The Royals will counter with Jason Hammell. Hammell pitched for the A’s in 2014 and won a championship ring last year with the Chicago Cubs. Game time will be at 5:05 pm

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Opening day–Giants want to get things going at home after having groggy opening road trip

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San Francisco Giants’ Aaron Hill, left, congratulates Brandon Belt, right, for hitting a grand slam home run against the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning of a baseball game in San Diego, Friday, April 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

by Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–18 count em 18 home opening days for AT&T Park since 2000 how time flies this is the 18th opening day at the new ball park and the Giants need to change their ways they went 2-5 on the opening road trip of the season and they need to get on track. The win on Sunday against the San Diego Padres 5-3 at Petco Park was such a big thing. When you think back to former Giants manager Dusty Baker he would always say try to win the opening game on the road trip (that didn’t happen with a loss to Arizona) and the last game on the trip.

That win obviously makes the plane ride back to San Francisco a lot smoother and builds momentum. The opponents the first week of the trip Arizona and San Diego are playing really well from where they were last year to what they showed the Giants last week. You can sense the improvement in San Diego’s case they play well against the Giants as they suffered some embarrassing loses against LA to open the season. It’s baseball there’s still a bunch of games the Giants  2-5 record is not where they want to be but it is where they are.

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Stanley Cup Playoffs & San Jose Sharks Podcast with Len Shapiro: With playoffs schedule set Sharks know they’ll have their hands full against Oilers and ex-coach

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AP file photo: Edmonton Oilers head coach Todd McLellan looks on as his team takes on the Minnesota Wild during the first period of an NHL preseason hockey game Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. (Liam Richards/The Canadian Press via AP)

by Len Shapiro

SAN JOSE–The NHL scheduling went right down the wire on Sunday night with the league awaiting the results from the Anaheim-Calgary game. The schedules came out at 10:00PM PDT that’s late back east. Anaheim won that game in over time to lock up the top position for their fifth straight division title. The Sharks are making their plans to head out to Edmonton to face their former coach Todd McClellan and the Oilers for the first game of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Center on Wednesday night for game one and Friday night for game two. Then they’ll come down to play game three in San Jose Sunday 16th and game four Tuesday 18th  at SAP Center. Then it’s back to Edmonton Thursday 20th for game five, game six in San Jose Sat 22, and game seven at Edmonton on Mon 24th.

The Oilers won their last two games against the Sharks on San Jose ice one of the two of those loses came last Thursday back in third period with the Oilers Milan Lucic who started off the game in the first period with a huge fight and a game misconduct in battling the Sharks Michael Healy. No doubt these two will exchange pleasantries in this first round of the upcoming playoffs. Lucic was a one man band he ended up scoring a hat trick in the third period to help the Oilers come back from 2-1 to win it 4-2.

Len Shapiro is the former Sr Media Relations Director for the former California Golden Seals the Bay Area’s first NHL team and does  the Sharks podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

 

 

A’s undone by their own mistakes, drop finale in Texas, 8-1

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inning of a baseball game Sunday, April 9, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Mike Stone)

By Morris Phillips

The A’s lopsided loss to the Rangers to end the first week of the new season was another reminder of how things are done these days to win games at the major league level.

Hitters no longer focus on batting averages, or on-base percentages, or strikeout totals.  While those metrics still carry weight, nothing is more impactful than a big hit, or a big inning at the expense of those previously mentioned measures of a hitter’s consistency.  In many ways, it’s a philosophy that’s the polar opposite of Oakland’s Billy Ball, but one the A’s are acutely aware of nonetheless.

On Sunday at Globe Life Park, A’s starting pitcher Sean Manaea posted a couple of impressive totals, a career-best 10 strikeouts and just three hits allowed, but saw the Rangers undo his potential gem with two bold strokes.

First, Joey Gallo hit a three-run homer off Manaea in the second inning, taking advantage of the pitcher in a frame in which he had already thrown 20 pitches.  Not surprisingly, the inning started with a strikeout, but devolved when Ryan Rua and Robinson Chirinos picked up two-out base hits. With the runners aboard, Gallo deposited the first pitch he saw over the right field wall.

Gallo, a minor league call up that has had bits and pieces of action with the Rangers over the last three seasons, registered his first hit off a left-handed pitcher at the big league level in nearly two years.  Gallo’s blast traveled 400 feet, not surprising for a hulking slugger who hasn’t established himself for two reasons: his high strikeout rate, and the presence of future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre at his preferred position of third base. On Sunday, with Beltre on the disabled list, Gallo was in the lineup, showing the Texas brass that he can fight through the strikeouts, and get to the home runs.

“He understands he’s a big guy with big power, and he’s going to strike out,” Rangers’ manager Jeff Bannister said of Gallo. “He’s not overanalyzing any single at-bat.  It’s not the end of the game for him.”

So what transpired on Gallo’s next at-bat? Manaea struck him out, no surprise given the dynamics. But for Gallo’s third plate appearance in the sixth, Manaea was lifted after throwing just 86 pitches, as manager Bob Melvin had seen enough after his lefty walked the previous hitter, Rua, after hitting the batter before that, Nelson Mazara.

Yes, Manaea struck out 10 of the 24 batters he faced in just 86 pitches. But he also walked a pair, hit Mazara with a pitch that glanced off his helmet, uncorked a wild pitch, and committed a throwing error, one of three the A’s committed on Sunday.

That brought rookie flamethrower Frankie Montas into the game with the bases loaded, one out, and he promptly walked Chirinos to increase the Rangers lead to 4-0.  Then with Gallo down 0-2, the big slugger delivered a two-run single, effectively ending the game with the A’s trailing by six runs in the seventh.

Again, Gallo reinvented himself on the fly at Oakland’s expense.  The base hit on an 0-2 count was a first for the third baseman. Gallo had never previously hit safely at the big league level in an 0-2 count, striking out a whopping 38 times in 42 fruitless at-bats.

As for the A’s, a trio of numbers told their story: the aforementioned three errors (first baseman Ryon Healy’s fielding gaffe allowed Rougned Odor to reach in the four-run sixth), 11 men left on base, and 1 for 10 batting with runners in scoring position.

The A’s actually outhit the Rangers, 8-7, a statistical anomaly rendered into a minor footnote.

The A’s move on to Kansas City for the Royals’ home opener on Monday afternoon.  Jharel Cotton and the Royals’ Ian Kennedy are the listed, starting pitchers with both having lost their initial starts.

San Jose Barracuda Sunday post game wrap: Cuda wrap up conference title in overtime 2-1 over Stockton

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sjbarracuda.com photo: San Jose Barracuda celebrate on their bench as they defeat the Stockton Heat 2-1 in overtime on Sunday afternoon at SAP Center

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Barracuda clinched the Western Conference, wrapping up their 12-game season series against the Stockton Heat with a 2-1 overtime victory at SAP Center Sunday.

After a quick stop in Stockton Saturday night, the Barracuda returned to San Jose to open a three-game homestand, starting with the Heat.

Following a brief fight, Zack Stortini received a slashing penalty while Jamie Devane sat in the box for cross-checking.

“It’s two teams that compete hard against each other,” Stortini commented. “We’re both playing for something and we’re very competitive so those kinds of games are very fun to play in.”

Andrew Mangiapane was called for high-sticking with 9:22 left in the period. The Barracuda got into another fight with the rival Heat. This time, it was over a questionable call made by the officials. Julius Bergman’s shot bounced off the end boards and Ryan Carpenter tried to slam the puck into the net, but the call stood. No goal for San Jose.

The Barracuda opened the scoring with just 51.5 seconds left on the clock. Garnet Hathaway went to the box for holding the stick. Tim Heed sent a pass to Danny O’Regan, who blasted it into the net, beating David Rittich for a power-play goal — his 22nd of the season.

The Barracuda led the Heat 1-0 after 20 minutes. Shots were 20-7 in favor of San Jose.

Things remained chippy in the second period as Mirco Mueller dropped the gloves with Ryan Lomberg for a fight at 13:08. As a result, both players served two-minute minors for roughing.

The Barracuda held a 1-0 lead over the Heat after 40 minutes. San Jose outshot Stockton 36-14.

The action ensued in the third period. Buddy Robinson dropped the gloves with Austin Carroll for an intense fight just 2:03 into the period. Consequently, both players served 10-minute misconducts and two-minute roughing minors.

Jacob Middleton was called for tripping at 14:07. Mike Angelidis then finished a tic-tac-toe play from Mangiapane and Mark Jankowski for a power-play goal — his seventh goal of the season — tying the game 1-1 at 13:39.

The game headed into overtime after the Barracuda and Heat remained in a 1-1 deadlock after 60 minutes. Troy Grosenick made a notable save, stopping the puck with his glove to prevent a potential game-tying goal from a Heat forward.

Barclay Goodrow scored the game-winning goal — his 25th of the season — to lift the Barracuda to a 2-1 win at 2:48 of the overtime period.

The Barracuda (43-15-2-5) edged the Heat (33-25-5-2) in a 2-1 overtime victory. Grosenick finished with 20 saves for San Jose.

“I was a little bit bored there,” Grosenick said when asked about how he shot the puck back and forth with Rittich. “So I wanted to play pass with somebody and I passed it to him. Then he took a shot on that and I wasn’t happy with that.”

Rittich made 47 saves in a losing effort for Stockton.

When asked about the melee between both teams, Barracuda head coach Roy Sommer didn’t have much to say.

“I don’t know man,” Sommer responded. “It was kind of just a heat of the moment thing…I don’t remember what he said. It was just one of those things and it’s kind of a team thing. They get under your skin and into your mind and shame on me, I guess.”

Notes Sommer received a misconduct — his second of the season — after attempting to discuss a call with the Heat bench. He now has 20 penalty minutes, zero goals and zero assists.

O’Regan was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team Wednesday.

Grosenick and Heed were selected to the AHL First and Second All-Star Team Thursday.

Up Next The Barracuda continue their homestand Tuesday when they host the Tuscon Roadrunners (26-31-8-0) at 7:00 p.m. PST on AHL Live and AM 1220 KDOW

Rockets make it rain 3-pointers as they down the Kings 135-128 on Sunday

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by Charlie O. Mallonee

SACRAMENTO–This was a tough game to analyze

“I think the whole thing is kind of hard, but some guys came through, played well. Bobby Brown played really well for us and we saw some good stuff. Obviously, a little ragged on both ends, but to be expected,” said Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni.

Here’s your 2:20 Game Wrap

Skal Labissiere on the Kings run at the end of the game

“We just started being more alert on defense because they have a hard offense to guard. So we kind of figured it out toward the end and just be more assertive on defense – that’s really what it was.”

Kings head coach Dave Joerger’s comments after the game

Key Stats from the game

Top Scorers

rockets harden
Harden cheers on his team from the bench Photo NBAE
  • For Houston: James Harden posted his 21st triple-double of the season scoring 35 points to go with 15 assists and 11 rebounds
  • For the Kings: Rookie Skal Labissiere recorded 25 points shooting 10-for-12 from the floor. He also hit 5-of-6 from the free throw line

Team shooting stats

  • The Rockets attempted 80 field goals in the game. 43 of those attempts were from behind the 3-point line. They hit 18 of those 3-point shots (41.9-percent). Houston shot 56.3-percent overall for the game
  • The Kings shot 47-for-54 (50-percent) from the field which in most cases would be good enough to win the game for a team. They went 9-for-31 (29-percent) from 3-pointland. Sacramento had an unusually poor night shooting from beyond the 3-point arc

Kings who did not play – coach’s decision

Arron Afflalo, Darren Collison, Tyreke Evans and Kosta Koufos did not enter the game on Sunday versus the Rockets.

Kings draft positions after the loss

Sacramento would draft number eight in the Draft Lottery assuming the ping pong balls do not change history for all-time in favor of the Kings and make them number one. The Kings would also draft at number 10 with the pick they received from New Orleans for DeMarcus Cousins.

Tankathon.com projects that the Kings would wind up with French point guard Frank Ntilikina at number eight and small forward Miles Bridges from Michigan State with the number 10 selection.

Up next for the Kings

The Kings will play their final home game of the season on Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns. Sacramento is 2-1 versus the Suns this season. The Kings two victories came on the road in Phoenix. The Suns won the game in Sacramento 105-103 on February 3rd.

San Francisco Giants Sunday game wrap: Cueto dominant in win; Giants snap four game loss streak with 5-3 win over Pads

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By Jeremy Kahn

Maybe the San Francisco Giants should send Johnny Cueto to the mound for every start, but that is not remotely possible.

Cueto went seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits with three walks, as the Giants salvaged the finale of the three-game series with a 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

The win by Cueto snapped a modest two-game losing streak for him at Petco Park, as he was on the losing end of the 2016 All-Star Game and then five days later, he lost to the Padres.

With the victory, Cueto raises his record on the 2017 season to 2-0.

Cueto lost his shutout in the bottom of the seventh inning, as he allowed a two-run home run to Wil Myers. It was the second home run of the season for Myers.

As for the Giants, this was a huge win for the NL Wild Card winners, who lost five out of their first six games of the season.

Hunter Pence hit a two-run home run off of Clayton Richard in the top of the third inning, and then Buster Posey made it to back-to-back home runs. It was the first home run of the season for both Pence and Posey.

The Giants got on the board in the top of the second inning in a bizarre way. With runners on both first and second with just one out, Chris Marrero singled in Posey. The throw by right fielder Hunter Renfroe hit Myers’ glove and bounced into the Padres dugout, and on the play, Brandon Crawford on the throwing error by Renfroe.

Yangervis Solarte hit a solo home run off of Derek Law in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Solarte picked up three hits on the afternoon.

It was the first loss of the season for Richard, as he won his season debut in a shutout over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.

NOTES: Matt Moore makes his second start of the season on Monday afternoon, as the Giants open their 18th season at AT&T Park. The Arizona Diamondbacks will send Taijuan Walker to the mound, as he looks for his second win in as many chances this season against the Giants.

NHL Podcast with Daniel Dullum: Playoff pairings Sharks face Edmonton; Leafs make playoff first time since 13, Wings say good by to The Joe; plus more NHL News

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San Jose Sharks’ Daniel O’Regan (65) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Calgary Flames during the third period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, April 8, 2017. The Sharks won 3-1. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

On the NHL podcast with Daniel:

1 Playoff pairings set – San Jose opens with Edmonton.

2 Maple Leafs make playoffs for the first time since 2013. Canada has five teams in the playoffs, and one of them could possibly win the Cup.

3 Red Wings fans say goodbye to The Joe

4 Coyotes’ Craig Cunningham skates before finale with Wild with aid of a prosthetic leg; drops ceremonial first puck.

5 Denver University beats Minn.-Duluth to win NCAA championship. Jarid Lukosevicius hat trick accounts for Pioneers goals

Daniel does the NHL podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com